Voice over internet protocol call handling applications

ABSTRACT

Providing alerts to a user that is participating in a telephone call includes operating a telephone call between a first user and a second user. The telephone call uses a voice path, a first signaling path, and a second signaling. An indication of an alert to be presented to the first user is received. The alert is configured for presentation to the first user on a telephone used by the first user. Control signals are sent from the telephony services provider to the first telephony proxy server over the first signaling path. The control signals are configured to cause the alert to be presented audibly to the first user on the telephone used by the first user such that (i) the first user hears the alert, (ii) the second user does not hear the alert, and (iii) the alert does not obscure other content of the telephone call.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/020,680, filed Dec. 27, 2004, and titled “Voice over Internet Protocol Call Handling”, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/627,144, filed Nov. 15, 2004, and titled “Voice over Internet Protocol Call Handling”, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/577,216, filed Jun. 7, 2004, and titled “Voice over Internet Protocol Application Development Framework.” The entire contents of both of these applications are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This document relates to systems that provide telephone services using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

BACKGROUND

In a typical VoIP communications system, a network services provider (i.e., the owner and manager of a network/telephony infrastructure) and a telephone services provider (i.e., a customer-facing provider of telephony services) work together to offer VoIP services to customers over a data network. The network services provider controls the physical media through which the VoIP data travels (e.g., the fiber-optic network and the optical networking equipment) and the proxy servers and voice gateway routers that direct and control the flow of VoIP data. The underlying system is generally capable of creating a basic communications session, with assistance of the telephone services provider in the form of subscriber identifying information (e.g., a telephone number). The telephone services provider typically develops the voice applications that enable the proxy servers and voice gateway routers to handle VoIP calls in accordance with the VoIP telephone services offered by the telephone services provider. The telephone services provider also controls back-end computer systems that may be accessed by the proxy servers or voice gateway routers in response to procedure calls generated while executing a voice application. The back-end computer systems typically store customer-specific, voice-services-related configuration data.

The proxy servers and the voice gateway routers manage the voice paths of VoIP calls and the signaling used to setup and tear down the VoIP calls in accordance with the voice applications developed by the telephone services provider. The voice applications are typically scripts containing Application Programming Interface (API) commands that, when executed by a voice gateway router, manage a VoIP call in accordance with a VoIP service offered to a customer. More particularly, call signals arrive at the voice gateway router, and the voice gateway router processes the signals in a pre-defined manner that is indicated by the API-based voice applications. At well defined points in the processing of the messaging, the voice gateway router may use API commands to retrieve particular pieces information required by the voice applications. The API commands facilitate development of voice applications and, hence, VoIP services by providing building blocks that may be put together to construct voice applications that offer typical voice services.

SUMMARY

In one general aspect, providing alerts to a user that is participating in a telephone call includes operating a telephone call between a first user and a second user. The telephone call uses a voice path that has been established between a first telephony proxy server associated with the first user and a second telephony proxy server associated with the second user, a first signaling path that has been established between a telephony services provider and the first telephony proxy server, and a second signaling path that has been established between the telephony services provider and the second telephony proxy server. The first and second telephony proxy servers are controlled by a telephony infrastructure provider. An indication of an alert to be presented to the first user is received. The alert is configured for presentation to the first user on a telephone used by the first user. Control signals are sent from the telephony services provider to the first telephony proxy server over the first signaling path. The control signals are configured to cause the alert to be presented audibly to the first user on the telephone used by the first user such that (i) the first user hears the alert, (ii) the second user does not hear the alert, and (iii) the alert does not obscure other content of the telephone call.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. For example, sending control signals configured to cause the alert to be presented audibly to the first user may include sending control signals to cause the alert to be presented audibly to the first user out of band of the telephone call.

A determination may be made as to whether the user is participating in the telephone call. A determination may be made as to whether the user is available to receive the alert.

Sending control signals configured to cause the alert to be presented to the first user on the telephone used by the first user may include sending control signals configured to cause the alert to be read to the first user over the telephone used by the first user. Sending control signals configured to cause the alert to be presented to the first user on the telephone used by the first user may include sending control signals configured to cause a tone indicative of the alert to be played over the telephone for the first user.

Receiving an indication of an alert to be presented to the first user may include receiving an indication that a controller of the telephone used by the first user is attempting to interrupt the telephone call, an indication of another call to the first user that has been received by the telephony services provider, an indication of an event from a calendar maintained by the first user, or a reminder of a task to be performed by the first user.

In another general aspect, providing audio messages specific to participants in telephone calls includes receiving an indication of a call from a first user to a second user. The indication is received by a telephony services provider over a first signaling path of the call that is established between the telephony service provider and a first telephony proxy server. The first telephony proxy server is controlled by a telephony infrastructure provider and is associated with the first user. An audio message to be presented to at least one of the first user and the second user is identified. The audio message is specified by the second user. Control signals configured to cause the identified audio message to be presented to at least one of the first user and the second user are identified. The identified control signals are sent from the telephony services provider to the first telephony proxy server over the first signaling path or to a second telephony proxy server that is controlled by a telephony infrastructure provider and that is associated with the second user over a second signaling path that is established between the telephony services provider and the second telephony proxy server.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. For example identifying control signals configured to cause the identified audio message to be presented to at least one of the first user and the second user may include identifying control signals configured to cause the identified message to be played over a voice path that has been established between the first telephony proxy server and the second telephony proxy server.

Identifying control signals configured to cause the identified audio message to be presented to at least one of the first user and the second user may include identifying control signals configured to cause the identified audio message to be presented to only the first user, or to only the second user.

Receiving an indication of a call involving the first user and the second user may include receiving an indication of a call that involves the first user and the second user that is already operating using the first signaling path and the second signaling path, and in which the first user is placing the second user on hold. Identifying an audio message may include identifying an audio message to be played to the second user while the second user is on hold.

Receiving an indication of a call involving the first user and the second user may include receiving an indication of a new call that involves the first user and the second user. Identifying an audio message may include identifying a ring tone that identifies the second user for the first user.

Receiving an indication of a call involving the first user and the second user may include receiving an indication of a new call from the second user to the first user that is received while the first user is involved in an existing call. Identifying an audio message may include identifying an audio message that identifies the second user to the first user and that informs the first user that the second user is attempting to interrupt the existing call with the new call.

Identifying an audio message specified by the second user may include identifying the audio message based on characteristics of the second user.

These general and specific aspects may be implemented using a system, a method, or a computer program, or any combination of systems, methods, and computer programs.

Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communications system for providing telephone services.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a process for controlling a telephone call.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a process for identifying control signals for applying services to a telephone call.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a process for retrieving control signals for application to a telephone call.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a telephony services provider that provides services for controlling telephone calls.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a process for identifying control signals for a telephone call using the telephony services provider of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an interface for presenting information related to call handling services.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a process for providing alerts to participants of telephone calls.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a process for providing information to a participant of a telephone call that is specific to the participant.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with one embodiment, a service presents an alert to one or more participants of a telephone call such that the alert does not affect participation by the participants in the telephone call. For example, an alert that corresponds only to a first participant of the call may be presented such that the first participant hears the alert, other participants do not hear the alert, and the alert does not obscure other content of the telephone call. The alerts may be indications of incoming calls, upcoming calendar events, tasks to be performed, or other reminders for one of the participants of the call. Furthermore, one or more participant-specific audio-message may be presented to the participants. For example, if a first participant has to place a second participant on hold, an audio message corresponding only to the second participant may be presented to the second participant while on hold. The audio message may be specified by the first participant, by the second participant, or automatically based upon characteristics of the second participant.

Referring to FIG. 1, an enhanced communications system 100 provides VoIP telephone services through use of voice applications that directly process signaling information used to establish VoIP calls. The communications system 100 controls calls placed between a caller telephone 105 a and a call recipient telephone 105 b. The call is serviced by a telephony infrastructure provider 110 that receives instructions for handling the call from a telephony services provider 115. The telephony infrastructure provider 110 includes a data network 120 and voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b. The voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b include respective user databases 130 a and 130 b and respective mappings 135 a and 135 b. The voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b establish a voice path 140 between themselves and respective signaling paths 145 a and 145 b between each of them and the telephony services provider 115. The telephony services provider 115 includes a telephony services signal processing system 150 and a telephony services back-end system 155. The telephones 105 a and 105 b communicate with the telephony infrastructure provider 110 through respective optional delivery systems 160 a and 160 b, respectively.

The caller telephone 105 a is configured to place a call to, or to receive a call from, the call recipient telephone 105 b using the telephony infrastructure provider 110. Each of the telephones 105 a and 105 b may be a landline or wireline phone, a wireless phone, a cellular phone, a mobile personal digital assistant (PDA) with embedded cellular phone technology, or a soft phone, which is a telephone integrated into a computer system. Alternatively or additionally, each of the telephones 105 a and 105 b may be integrated into a client computer system.

The telephony infrastructure provider 110 provides infrastructure that may be used to operate calls between the telephones 105 a and 105 b. The telephony infrastructure provider 110 does not determine how the calls between the telephones 105 a and 105 b should be controlled. Instead, the telephony infrastructure provider 110 relies on the telephony services provider 115 to indicate how the calls should be controlled. In one implementation, communications between the components of the telephony infrastructure provider 110 are packet-based communications that use Internet Protocol (IP).

The telephony services provider 115 determines how the calls between the telephones should be controlled. The telephony services provider 115 instructs the telephony infrastructure provider 110 to control a call between the telephones 105 a and 105 b in an identified manner. The telephony services provider 115 determines how to control the call based on information that may be accessed only by the telephony services provider 115 and not by the telephony infrastructure provider 110. The telephony services provider may provide Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) signals, H.323 signals, Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) signals, Media Gateway Control (Megaco) signals, Simple Gateway Control Protocol (SGCP) signals, or other types of call handling signals to the telephony infrastructure provider 110 to identify how the call should be handled. In one implementation, the telephony services provider 115 also is an Internet service provider (ISP), and the information that may be accessed only by the telephony services provider may relate to Internet use of customers of the ISP, as well as to other services provided by the ISP. In such implementations, users of the telephones 105 a and 105 b may be customers of the ISP. As a result, the ISP may provide information relating to Internet use of the users to the telephones 105 a and 105 b. Furthermore, information describing phone usage and call handling preferences of the users may be presented to the users when the users access the ISP, for example, with a computer.

The data network 120 is configured to enable direct or indirect communications between the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b. The data network 120 may include, for example, one or more of the Internet, Wide Area Networks (WANs), Local Area Networks (LANs), analog or digital wired and wireless telephone networks (e.g., Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), and Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL)), radio, television, cable, satellite, and/or any other delivery or tunneling mechanism for carrying data.

The voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b route calls between the telephones 105 a and 105 b. The voice gateway router 125 a is associated with the telephone 105 a and with a user of the telephone 105 a, and the voice gateway router 125 b is associated with the telephone 105 b and with a user of the telephone 105 b. When the voice gateway router 125 a receives a call placed from the telephone 105 a to the telephone 105 b serviced by the voice gateway router 125 b, the voice gateway router 125 a determines if the call was placed by a user whose calls are controlled by the telephony services provider 115. If so, then the call is routed to the telephony services provider 115 such that the telephony services provider 115 may control the call. If not, then the call is routed to the voice gateway router 125 b, which services the telephone 105 b, such that the call may be handled normally. The voice gateway router 125 b operates in a corresponding manner when a call is placed from the telephone 105 b to the telephone 105 a. When a call is handled by the telephony services provider 115, the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b receive call handling signals from the telephony services provider 115. The voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b execute the received call handling signals to handle the call in a manner identified by the telephony services provider 115. The voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b also may be referred to as edge proxy servers or PSTN gateways.

The user databases 130 a and 130 b enable the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b, respectively, to determine whether received calls should be handled by the telephony services provider 115. More particularly, the user databases 130 a and 130 b include indications of users of telephones serviced by the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b, respectively, whose calls are controlled by the telephony services provider 115. When a call is received at one of the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b, the voice gateway router may determine that the call should be routed to the telephony services provider 115 when one or more people involved in the call are included in the corresponding user database. The people involved in the call may be identified based on information included in the call, such as the source and destination phone numbers for the call.

The mappings 135 a and 135 b enable the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b to route calls to telephones serviced by the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b, respectively. More particularly, the mappings 135 a and 135 b relate phone numbers to IP addresses of telephones that correspond to the phone numbers. Each of the mappings 135 a and 135 b includes entries for each telephone serviced by the corresponding voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b. For example, the voice gateway router 125 a may use the mapping 135 a to identify an IP address of the telephone 105 a when the voice gateway router 125 a receives a call to the telephone 105 a from, for example, the telephone 105 b. In one implementation, the voice gateway router 125 b may route the call from the telephone 105 b to the voice gateway router 125 a based on characteristics of the phone number or the location to which the call is placed. For example, the telephone 105 a may be serviced by the voice gateway router 125 a as a result of being in a particular location or having a particular phone number. In another implementation, the voice gateway router 125 b may route the call to the voice gateway router 125 a because the voice gateway router 125 a may have informed the voice gateway router 125 b that the voice gateway router 125 a services the telephone 105 a. The voice gateway router 125 b may use the mapping 135 b to route calls to the telephone 105 b in a corresponding manner.

Voice data for a call between the telephones 105 a and 105 b is sent between the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b through the network over the voice path 140. In addition, signals for controlling the call may be sent over signaling paths 145 a and 145 b. The signaling paths 145 a and 145 b are established when the call is to be handled by the telephony services provider 115. Otherwise, a signaling path is established between the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b.

The telephony services signal processing system 150 identifies call handling signals that are used by the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b to control a call between the telephones 105 a and 105 b. The telephony services signal processing system 150 preferably includes one or more applications that may cause the call to be controlled in a particular manner, by producing call handling signals for the call. One or more of the applications may be selected for execution based on call handling preferences of a user involved in the call. The call handling preferences, as well as other information needed by the selected applications, may be accessed from the telephony services back-end system 155. In implementations where the telephony services provider 115 also is an ISP, the telephony services back-end system 155 may include information relating to how the user involved in the call uses the ISP. For example, the information may include indications of people with which the user may or may not communicate, events from an electronic calendar of the user, availability of the user, an activity undertaken by the user, times at which calls to the user are blocked or allowed, a maximum allowable amount of time for which the user may participate in telephone calls, and parental controls.

In some implementations, the telephones 105 a and 105 b are VoIP telephones that may communicate directly with the telephony infrastructure provider 110, for example, using the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b. In such implementations, the delivery systems 160 a and 160 b are not required. In other implementations, the telephones 105 a and 105 b are circuit-switched telephones, in which case the delivery systems 160 a and 160 b are needed to enable the telephones 105 a and 105 b to communicate with the telephony infrastructure provider 110. The delivery systems 160 a and 160 b convert circuit-switched data from the telephones 105 a and 105 b into packets of data that may be used by the telephony infrastructure provider 110. Each of the delivery systems 160 a or 160 b may be a public switched telephone network (PSTN) or a private branch exchange (PBX) that that may communicate with the telephony services provider 115. Alternatively or additionally, each of the delivery systems 160 a and 160 b may be an adapter configured to convert data from a circuit-switched telephone into data that may be used by the telephony infrastructure provider 110.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a process 200 for handling a call in the enhanced communications system 100. The call is placed from a telephone serviced by a first voice gateway router 125 a to a telephone serviced by a second voice gateway router 125 b. A signaling path for the call is routed through a telephony services signal processing system 150. The telephony services signal processing system 150 identifies signals for controlling the telephone calls, and the identified signals are sent to the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b to establish or control a voice path between the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b.

The process begins when the voice gateway router 125 a receives a call from a locally serviced telephone (205). For example, the voice gateway router 125 a may receive the call from the caller telephone 105 a of FIG. 1. In implementations where the locally serviced telephone is not a VoIP telephone, the call may be received through a delivery system, such as the delivery system 160 a of FIG. 1. The voice gateway router 125 a determines whether the call should be routed through the telephony services signal processing system 150. Such a determination may be based on a user database maintained by the voice gateway router 125 a, such as the user database 130 a of FIG. 1. The user database identifies people whose calls are specially handled by the telephony services signal processing system 150. The voice gateway router 125 a may identify people involved in the call based on, for example, phone numbers or IP addresses associated with the call. If the identified people are found in the user database, then the call may be routed through the telephony services signal processing system 150.

When the call is to be routed through the telephony services signal processing system 150 such that the telephony services signal processing system 150 may control the call, the voice gateway router 125 a builds a signaling path to the telephony services signal processing system 150 (210). In response, the telephony services signal processing system 150 builds signaling paths to the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b (215), and the voice gateway router builds a signaling path to the telephony services signal processing system 150 (220). As a result, the telephony services signal processing system 150 may send signals for controlling the call to the voice gateway routers over the signaling paths that have been established.

The voice gateway router 125 a sends an indication of the call to the telephony services signal processing system 150 over the signaling path to the telephony services signal processing system 150 (225). The indication of the call may include a telephone number or an IP address from which the call was placed, a telephone number or an IP address to which the call was placed, identifiers of people involved in the call, and a time at which the call was placed. The telephony services signal processing system 150 receives the indication of the call from the voice gateway router 125 a over the signaling path (230).

The telephony services signal processing system 150 uses the received indication of the call to identify signals for controlling the call (235). The telephony services signal processing system 150 may identify the signals by executing one or more call handling applications included in the telephony services signal processing system 150. The applications may use information that may be accessed from a telephony services back-end system, such as the telephony services back-end system 155 of FIG. 1. The call handling applications that are executed by the telephony services signal processing system 150 may be selected based on call handling preferences for a participant of the call. The chosen applications identify the signals such that the call is controlled in a manner that is consistent with the call handling preferences.

The telephony services signal processing system 150 sends the identified signals to the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b over the signaling paths 145 a and 145 b that have been established to the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b (240). The voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b receive the signals from the telephony services signal processing system 150 (245, 250). In one implementation, the telephony services signal processing system 150 sends only the signals to be used by the voice gateway router 125 a to the voice gateway router 125 a, and only the signals to be used by the voice gateway router 125 b to the voice gateway router 125 b.

The voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b use the received signals to establish and/or control a voice path 140 between the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b (255, 260). For example, if the received signals indicate that the call should be allowed without restriction, then the voice path is established such that the people involved in the call may communicate over the voice path. In addition, other audio data, such as alerts and ring tones, may be presented to the people involved in the call over the voice path, as may be indicated by the received signals.

As the call is operating, the telephony services signal processing system 150 may continue to identify additional signals for controlling the call, and the identified signals may be sent to the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b. The additional signals may be identified at any time, in response to any stimuli deemed important to the call or the participants of the call. Among these stimuli are dynamic, evolving context of the call, the participants, or external factors that affect or are affected by the session. The additional signals may be identified using any application included in the telephony services signal processing system 150 that applies to the call or to the participants. After the call has been completed, the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b may tear down the voice path and the signaling paths.

In the implementation of the process 200 illustrated in FIG. 2, the voice gateway router 125 a sends to the telephony services signal processing system 150 an indication of the call because calls to or from a user that placed the calls are controlled by the telephony services signal processing system 150. In such an implementation, the voice gateway router 125 b may not receive an indication of the call until the telephony services signal processing system 150 establishes a signaling path to the voice gateway router. In other implementations of the process 200, the voice gateway router 125 b may send the telephony services signal processing system 150 an indication of the call, even though the call was placed from a telephone serviced by the voice gateway router 125 a, because calls to or from a user to which the call was placed are controlled by the telephony services signal processing system 150. In such implementations, the voice gateway router 125 a may establish a signaling path and may forward an indication of the call to the voice gateway router 125 b. Upon a determination that the call is to be controlled, the voice gateway router 125 b may tear down the signaling path to the voice gateway router 125 a, and may forward an indication of the call to the telephony services signal processing system 150.

Referring to FIG. 3, a process 300 is used to identify signals for controlling a received call. The process 300 may be executed by a telephony services signal processing system of a telephony services provider, such as the telephony services signal processing system 150 of FIG. 1. The telephony services signal processing system is an entity distinct from a telephony infrastructure provider that operates the call in accordance with the identified signals. The telephony services signal processing system identifies the signals using information that may not be accessed by the telephony infrastructure provider.

The process 300 begins when the telephony services provider receives an indication of a call placed to or from a user whose calls are controlled by the telephony services provider (305). The indication of the call is received from a voice gateway router that services an origin or a destination of the call. More particularly, the indication of the call is received from a voice gateway router that services a telephone that is used by a user whose calls are controlled by the telephony services signal processing system 150. The indication of the call may be received over a signaling path that has been established between the voice gateway router and the telephony services signal processing system 150.

The telephony services signal processing system accesses information describing call handling preferences of the user (310). The information may be accessed from a telephony services back-end system, such as the telephony services back-end system 155 of FIG. 1. The call handling preferences for the user may indicate times at which the user desires and does not desire to receive calls. The times at which the user may and may not receive the calls may be indicated by electronic calendar events maintained in an electronic calendar of the user. The call handing preferences also may indicate people with whom the user may or may not desire to communicate. The people may be indicated by contact lists maintained by the user, such as an e-mail address book or an instant messaging buddy list of the user. The call handling preferences may indicate that alerts and reminders of, for example, tasks and calendar events are to be presented to the user while the user is participating in a telephone call.

The telephony services signal processing system identifies signals indicating how the call is to be handled based on the accessed information (315). The signals may be identified through execution of one or more applications included in the telephony services signal processing system. Each of these applications identifies signals for handling the call in a particular manner. The applications that are executed to identify the signals may be selected in a manner indicated by the call handling preferences accessed for the user. For example, if the call handling preferences indicate that the user is to be provided with reminders of events from an electronic calendar maintained by the user while the user is participating in a call, an application for providing the user with the reminders may be executed. The applications may access information from the telephony services back-end system while executing. For example, the application for providing the user with the reminders may access the electronic calendar event for which a reminder is to be provided from the telephony services back-end system.

The identified signals are sent to voice gateway routers that service telephones involved in the call (320). The voice gateway routers execute the signals to control the call in the manner identified by the telephony services signal processing system. Using the example from above, executing the received signals may result in the user being provided with the reminder of the calendar event.

Referring to FIG. 4, a process 400 is used to retrieve signals for controlling a call. The process 400 may be executed by a voice gateway router of a telephony infrastructure provider, such as one of the voice gateway routers 125 a and 125 b of FIG. 1. When a query is to be handled by a telephony services provider, such as the telephony services provider 115 of FIG. 1, the voice gateway router retrieves signals for controlling the call from the telephony services provider. Otherwise, the call is handled normally without retrieving signals from the telephony services provider.

The voice gateway router first receives a call from a locally serviced telephone (405). The call may be received directly from the telephone, or from a delivery system that connects the telephone to the voice gateway router, such as one of the delivery systems 160 a and 160 b of FIG. 1. The voice gateway router identifies a person that placed the call (410). The voice gateway router may identify people involved in the call, based on, for example, phone numbers or IP addresses of the locally serviced telephone from which the call was placed.

The voice gateway router determines whether the call was placed by a user of the telephony services provider (415). In other words, the voice gateway router determines whether the person that placed the call is a person whose calls are controlled by the telephony services provider. The voice gateway router may make such a determination by searching for an indication of the person that placed the call in a local user database, such as one of the user databases 130 a and 130 b of FIG. 1. If an indication of the person is found in the user database, then the person is a user of the telephony services provider. Otherwise, the person is not a user of the telephony services provider.

If the person is a user of the telephony services provider, then the voice gateway router builds a signaling path to the telephony services provider (420). The voice gateway router may know the location of the telephony services provider and, consequently, may be able to build the signaling path directly to the telephony services provider. The voice gateway router queries the telephony services provider over the signaling path for signals indicating how the call should be handled (425). The voice gateway router may query the telephony services provider for the signals by providing an indication of the call to the telephony services provider over the signaling path.

In response to the query, the telephony services provider identifies the signals, as described above with respect to FIG. 3. The telephony services provider sends the identified signals to the voice gateway router, and the voice gateway router receives the signals (430). The voice gateway router then handles the call as indicated by the received signals (435). More particularly, the voice gateway router executes the received signals such that the call is handled in a manner identified by the telephony services provider.

If the person is not a user of the telephony services provider (415), then the voice gateway router handles the call normally without involving the telephony services provider. More particularly, the voice gateway router identifies a voice gateway router that services the telephone to which the call was placed (440). The voice gateway router may identify the voice gateway router that services the telephone to which the call was placed based on characteristics of the telephone. For example, the voice gateway router first may identify a phone number or a location to which the call was placed from the indication of the call received from the locally serviced telephone. The voice gateway router then may identify the corresponding voice gateway router based on the identified phone number or location.

The voice gateway router then builds a signaling path for the call directly to the voice gateway router that services the telephone to which the call was placed (445), and also builds a voice path for the call directly to the same voice gateway router (450). The voice gateway router, in conjunction with the voice gateway router that services the telephone to which the call was placed, operates the call using the signaling path and the voice path (455). The voice gateway routers may use mappings, such as the mappings 135 a and 135 b of FIG. 1, to route signals and voice data to the endpoints of the call. As a result, the call is handled normally without involving the telephony services provider.

The illustrated implementation of the process 400 is executed by a first voice gateway router that services a telephone that placed the call. A similar process may be executed by a second voice gateway router that services a telephone to which the call was placed. In general, the similar process is the same as the illustrated implementation of the process 400. More particularly, the second voice gateway router may receive an indication of the call from the first voice gateway router or from the telephony services provider instead of from the telephone from which the call was placed (405). Instead of identifying a person that placed the call, the second voice gateway router may identify a person to which the call was placed (410).

However, the second voice gateway router may execute the similar process only when the first gateway router does not execute the process 400. If special call handling is to be applied for both the person that placed the call and the person to which the call was placed, control signals for handling the call for the caller are identified first, and control signals for handling the call for the recipient are identified second. The control signals for handling the call for the second user are identified such that those control signals do not conflict with the control signals identified for the caller. Referring to FIG. 5, one implementation of the telephony services provider 115 of FIG. 1 includes a telephony services signal processing system 150 and a telephony services back-end system 155. The telephony services signal processing system 150 includes a feature server 505 that includes features 510 a-510 n, a service logic execution environment 515, a back-to-back user agent 520, call handling preferences 525, a communications dashboard 530, and a communications manager 535. The telephony services back-end system includes various information sources 540 a-540 g that include an address book 540 a, a calendar 540 b, an alerts and reminders information source 540 c, an instant messaging information source 540 d, an e-mail information source 540 e, a presence monitor 540 f, and a parental controls information source 540 g.

The feature server 505 manages the features 510 a-510 n. Each of the features 510 a-510 n represents an application that may be executed to identify signals for controlling a call in a particular manner. For example, the feature 510 a may cause e-mail messages sent to a participant of the call to be read to the participant during the call. The feature 510 b may provide to the participant reminders of calendar events from an electronic calendar maintained by the participant, or of tasks to be performed by the participant. The feature 510 c may provide news updates, stock quotes, weather reports, or other information to a participant of the call. Such a feature may signal for information to be presented to the user such that other participants in the call may not perceive the information. In addition, the feature 510 d may cause ring tones or other call announcements that are specific to participants in a call to be provided to the participants when the calls are received. The feature 510 e may allocate charges to a person that placed a call when a recipient of the call indicates that the call is undesirable.

Other features may cause the call to be delivered to an intended recipient of the call. The call may be made to ring busy for a participant that placed the call. Alternatively or additionally, the call may be forwarded to a system that is different than a system to which the call was to be routed originally, such as a voicemail system. A call may be blocked such that an intended recipient of the call does not receive the call. An alert of the call, such as a ring tone, another pre-recorded audio message, or a visual alert of the call, may be presented to one or more participants of the call. An identification of a participant that placed the call may be presented to other participants of the call before the call is completed. An incoming call notification may be delivered to an intended recipient when the intended recipient is occupied with an ongoing but different call, and the intended recipient may be enabled to interrupt the ongoing call to handle the incoming call.

The feature server 505 may identify one or more of the features 510 a-510 n that may be executed to control a call. The feature server 505 provides the identified features to the service logic execution environment 515, which is a generic execution environment in which any of the features 510 a-510 n may be executed. For example, the service logic execution environment 515 may define an API of supported functions, and the features 510 a-510 n may be implemented using the API.

The execution of one or more of the features 510 a-510 n in the service logic execution environment 515 results in the identification of one of more call handling signals that are passed to the back-to-back user agent 520. The back-to-back user agent 520 is an interface of the telephony services provider 115 to a telephony infrastructure provider that operates calls that are controlled by the telephony services provider 115. Signaling paths that are built from the telephony infrastructure provider to the telephony services provider are built to the back-to-back user agent 520. As a result, indications of calls for which control signals are to be identified are received from the telephony infrastructure provider by the back-to-back user agent 520. In addition, the control signals are sent to the telephony infrastructure provider from the back-to-back user agent 520.

The call handing preferences 525 identify one or more of the features 510 a-510 n to be applied to a call. More particularly, the feature server 505 may use the call handling preferences 525 when identifying which of the features 510 a-510 n to apply to a call. The call handling preferences 525 may identify conditions that must be satisfied for a particular feature to be applied to the call. The conditions may reference information that may be accessed from the telephony services back-end system 155. The call handling preferences 525 may include conditions for each user whose calls are controlled by the telephony services provider 115. The communications dashboard 530 enables a user whose calls are controlled by the telephony services provider 115, or a supervisor or a guardian of the user, to specify personal call handling preferences. More particularly, the communications dashboard 530 is a user interface that may be accessed by the user to specify the personal call handling preferences. In one implementation, the dashboard 530 may include a program running on a server that can serve web pages to a user accessing the dashboard from a web browser. The communications dashboard 530 also may be used to view information provided by the telephony services back-end system 155.

The communications manager 535 is an interface between the telephony services signal processing system 150 and the telephony services back-end system 155. More particularly, the communications manager 535 may provide an API with which other components of the telephony services signal processing system 150 may request and receive information from the telephony services back-end system 155. In one implementation, the communications manager 535 also may be used by the feature server 505 and the service logic execution environment to access the call handing preferences 525. In one implementation, the communications manager 535 may include a cache of information from information sources 540 a-540 g such that commonly needed information does not need to be accessed repeatedly from the information sources 540 a-540 g.

The telephony services back-end system 155 includes information sources 540 a-540 g that provide information that may be used when identifying one or more of the features 510 a-510 n for application to a call, or when executing the identified features. The information provided by the information sources 540 a-540 g may be maintained by the telephony services back-end system 155, or by one or more external systems corresponding to the information sources 540 a-540 g. For example, information provided by the e-mail information source 540 d may be maintained by an e-mail system that is external to the telephony services provider 115.

Each of the information sources 540 a-540 g may include information that corresponds to each of the users whose calls are controlled by the telephony services provider 115. The information sources 540 a-540 g are described below with respect to a single user, though each of the information sources 540 a-540 g typically corresponds to multiple users.

The address book 540 a includes contact information of people known to the user. The address book 540 a may be used to determine if a person or opposite party participating in a call for which control signals are being identified is known to the user. In particular, if contact information for the person is found in the address book, then the person may be assumed to be known by the user. A feature may be applied to the call depending on whether the person is known to the user. For example, a feature for providing contact information for the user may be applied to the call only when the user communicates with a known person in the call. Furthermore, execution of a feature may require a determination of whether another person participating in a call is known to the user. For example, a feature for providing an alert to the user may require a determination of whether the other participant is known such that the alert may be presented only to the user when the participant is not known, and to both the user and the other participant when the participant is known.

The calendar 540 b includes indications of events in which the user is to participate. A feature may be applied to a call when the user is participating in a particular type of event from the calendar 540 b. For example, a feature for providing news alerts to the user over a telephone used by the user may be applied to the call because the user is participating in the call as part of an event indicated by the calendar 540 b. In addition, execution of a feature may require accessing a description of an event in which the user is participating such that signals for presenting the description to the user may be identified. For example, a feature for providing alerts of events to the user may access a description of the event such that the description may be provided to the user. The events indicated by the calendar 540 b may indicate the availability of the user, for example, to place and receive calls. For example, the user may be unavailable when participating in one of the events, and may be available otherwise. The alerts and reminders information source 540 c may include similar indications of events and tasks in which the user is to participate.

The instant messaging information source 540 d and the e-mail information source 540 e both include information describing instant messages and e-mail messages sent and received by the user. Signals for presenting instant messages and e-mail messages to the user may be identified by one of the features 510 a-510 n, but the call handling preferences 525 may indicate that such a feature is only to be executed when the information sources 540 d and 540 e include messages that have not been presented to the user already. For example, if a new e-mail message or a new instant message for the user is received while the user is participating in the call, then an indication of the new message, such as a sender, subject, or a time of receipt of the message, may be presented to the user. In response to the indication, the user may signal for the message to be read. Appropriate signals for reading the message to the user such the message is not read to other participants of the call do not hear the message may be identified.

The presence monitor 504 f indicates a current activity of the user. For example, the presence monitor 540 f may indicate whether the user is communicating with one or more other entities using a telephone, instant messages, or e-mail messages, or participating in an event from an electronic calendar of the user. The call handling preferences 525 may indicate that one or more of the features 510 a-510 n be selected for execution if the user is using the telephone. For example, if the presence monitor 504 f indicates that the user is communicating using a telephone and instant messages, a feature for presenting new instant messages to the user on the telephone may be selected for execution.

In addition, the signals identified through execution of one of the features 510 a-510 n may depend on an activity of the user. For example, a feature for determining whether the user may or may not participate in a call based on an activity of the user may identify signals for blocking or allowing the call, depending on the activity of the user. For example, the user may be available to participate in the call when participating in particular activities, and signals for allowing the user to participate in the call may be identified when the presence monitor 504 f indicates that the user is participating in one of the particular activities. Furthermore, the user may not be available to participate in the call when participating in other activities, and signals for blocking the call may be identified when the presence monitor 504 f indicates that the user is participating in one of the other activities. In other words, the current activity identified by the presence monitor 504 f may indicate the availability of user to place and receive telephone calls.

The parental controls information source 540 g includes information describing parental controls the telephone use of the user. For example, the parental controls information source 540 g may include an indication of an amount of time during a period for which the user has communicated using a telephone, as well as an indication of a maximum amount of time during the period for which the user may communicate using the telephone. The parental controls information source 540 g also may include indications of times when the user may participate in telephone calls, and times when the user may not participate in telephone calls. The parental controls information source 540 g also may include indications of people to or from whom calls are blocked.

The call handling preferences 525 may indicate that one or more of the features 510 a-510 n be selected for application to a call based in information included in the parental controls information source 540 g. For example, if the parental controls information source 540 g indicates that the present time is a time at which the user may not participate in the call, then the a feature for notifying other participants in the call that the user may not participate in the call may be selected for execution. As another example, if the parental controls information source 540 g indicates that one or more other participants in the call are people to or from whom calls are blocked, then a feature for blocking the call may be selected for execution.

In addition, the signals identified through execution of one of the features 510 a-510 n may depend on the information included in the parental controls information source 540 g. For example, a feature for blocking or allowing a call may identify signals for allowing the call when the user has not communicated for longer than the maximum allowable amount of time during the time period. In addition, the feature may identify signals for blocking the call when the user has communicated for at least the maximum allowable amount of time during the time period. Furthermore, the feature may identify signals for allowing the call when the other participants in the call are people whose calls are allowed, and signals for blocking the call when the one or more of the other participants in the call are people whose calls are blocked.

Information included in the telephony services back-end system 155 may be updated as a result of the execution of one or more of the features 510 a-510 n. For example, when a feature for allowing the user to participate in a call is executed, information included in the presence monitor 504 f may be updated to indicate that the user currently is participating in the call. In general, the information may be updated to include an indication of availability of the first call participant to place and receive a call, an activity undertaken by the first call participant, a time at which the first call participant may or may not place or receive a call, a person with which the first call participant may or may not participate in a call, an amount of time for which the first call participant has participated in calls, a call handling preference, or a parental control.

The updated information may be used to identify control signals for future calls. For example, if a subsequent call for the user is received while the user still is participating in the original call, control signals for providing a notification of the subsequent call to the user in a manner that does not interfere with the user's participation in the original call may be identified. Such control signals may be identified based on the updated information included in the presence monitor 504 f, which indicates that the user is participating in the original call.

The information included in the telephony services back-end system 155 and the preferences 525 that applies to the user may be specified by the user, or by a guardian or supervisor of the user, such as a parent or an employer of the user. For example, the user or the guardian or supervisor of the user may be presented a graphical user interface that may be used to specify the information. The user, or the guardian or supervisor of the user, may specify the information by accessing the telephony services back-end system 155 directly, or by accessing one or more of the external systems that correspond to the information sources 540 a-540 g. For example, the user may specify the information included in the address book 540 a with an external communications system, such as an e-mail system. The information is specified prior to being used to identify control signals for a call.

Referring to FIG. 6, a process 600 is executed by the telephony services provider 115 of FIG. 5 to identify control signals for handling a call that involves a user of the telephony services provider 115. The process 600 includes multiple components of the telephony services provider 115, such as the back-to-back user agent (B2BUA) 520, the service logic execution environment (SLEE) 515, the communications manager 535, and the feature server 505.

The process begins when the B2BUA 520 receives signals identifying a call to be handled (605). The signals are received over a signaling path that has been established to the B2BUA 520 by a telephony infrastructure provider that is operating the call. The telephony infrastructure provider may send the signals identifying the call to the B2BUA 520 because the telephony infrastructure provider determined that the call should be handled by the telephony services provider 115. The B2BUA 520 passes information describing the call to the SLEE 515 (610). The SLEE 515 passes the information to the feature server 505 (615), and the feature server 505 receives the information (620). The information may include telephone numbers to and from which the call was placed, identifiers of people participating in the call, and a time at which the call was placed.

The feature server 505 requests information from the communications manager 535 (625). More particularly, the feature server 505 requests information that may be used when identifying which of one or more included features, such as the features 510 a-510 n of FIG. 5, should be applied to the call. The requested information may include call handling preferences for one or more of the participants in the call.

The communications manager 535 identifies the requested information (630), for example from the telephony services back-end system 155, and then sends the requested information to the feature server 505 (635). Using the received information, the feature server 505 identifies one or more of the included features to be applied to the call (640). For example, the call handling preferences may indicate that a particular feature should be applied for one of the participants in the call, so the feature server 505 may identify the particular feature as one of the features to be applied to the call. The feature server 505 sends the identified features to the SLEE 515 for execution (645), and the SLEE 515 receives the features (650). The SLEE 515 executes the received features to identify control signals for handling the call (655). Execution of one or more of the features may require information from the telephony services back-end system 155, and the SLEE 515 requests that information from the communications manager 535 (660). The communications manager 535 identifies the requested information from the telephony services back-end system 155 (665) and sends the requested information to the SLEE 515 (670).

The SLEE 515 continues to execute the features that were sent by the feature server 505 using the information received from the communications manager, and identifies control signals for handling the call (675). The SLEE 515 forwards the identified signals to the B2BUA 520 (680). The B2BUA 520 may validate the signals received from the SLEE 515 to verify that the signals will result in allowable handling of the call. The B2BUA 520 sends the signals for execution to handle the call (685). More particularly, the B2BUA 520 sends the signals over the signaling path on which the signals identifying the call were received. The telephony infrastructure provider receives and executes the signals to handle the call as indicated by the features that were executed.

Referring to FIG. 7, one implementation of the communications dashboard 530 of FIG. 5 enables a user to view information used when identifying signals for controlling telephone calls involving the user. The communications dashboard 530 includes multiple sections 705-730, including a contact list 705, a calendar 710, an availability indicator 715, a contact information indicator 720, a voice mail indicator 725, and a recent communications indicator 730. Interaction with the communications dashboard 530 may add or modify information to the call handling preferences 525 and the telephony services back-end system 155 of FIG. 5.

The contact list 705 includes contact information for people known to a user for which the communications dashboard 535 is presented. The information included in the contact list 705 may be taken from one or more external sources, such as an address book of an e-mail system or a buddy list of an instant messaging system. In one implementation, one of the entries of the contact list 705 may be selected and an additional interface may be presented for specifying call handling preferences for calls to or from a person corresponding to the entry. For example, the additional interface may enable the specification of a ring tone for calls from the person.

The calendar 710 includes events from an electronic calendar of the user that may be retrieved from an external system that maintains the electronic calendar. Similarly to the contact list 705, one of the events may be selected to display an additional interface for specifying call handling preferences related to the event. For example, the additional interface may enable the specification of whether an alert for the selected event will be presented to the user, and, if so, the type of alert to be presented to the user.

The availability indicator 715 indicates the availability of the user to participate in telephone calls. The user may specify an availability with the availability indicator 715 to override other automatic determinations of the availability of the user that may be made. The specified availability may indicate one or more call handling applications or features to be applied to calls to the user, such as the features 510 a-510 n of FIG. 1. The specified availability also may affect the control signals that are identified with the one or more call handling applications.

The contact information indicator 720 includes contact information for the user. The voice mail indicator 725 indicates whether or not new voicemails for the user have been received. In one implementation, the information presented by the contact information indicator 720 and the voicemail indicator 725 does not affect how calls to the user are handled. In other implementations, the information presented by the indicators 720 and 725 may be used to identify and to affect the execution of the one or more call handling applications. For example, a call handling application may be identified for execution only when a new voicemail has been received for the user.

The recent communications list 730 identifies recent communications of the user. The recent communications may include telephone calls, instant messages, and e-mail messages. The recent communications list 730 may include indications of how the recent communications were handled. Such indications may be used to identify how future communications are to be handled. For example, future communications may be handled in the same manner as the recent communications, such that the applications for handling the future communications may be identified based on the indications of how the recent communications were handled.

The description of FIGS. 1-7 outlines a general call handling architecture in which control signals identified through execution of one or more applications or features are used to handle telephone calls. FIGS. 8 and 9 describe two of those applications or features.

Referring to FIG. 8, a process 800 is used to provide an alert to a participant of a telephone call that does not interfere with the user's participation in the call. The process 800 may be executed by a telephony services provider, such as the telephony services provider 115 of FIG. 1, that controls the call on behalf of a telephony infrastructure provider that operates the call, such as the telephony infrastructure provider 110 of FIG. 1. More particularly, the process 800 may be implemented as one of the features 510 a-510 n of FIG. 5 and may be executed by the service logic execution environment 515 of FIG. 5 when the feature is identified for application to a call. The feature may be identified for application to a call when call handling preferences of a recipient of the call indicate that the feature should be applied.

The process 800 begins when the telephony services provider controls a call between a first user and a second user (805). The first and second users may use the telephones 105 a and 105 b of FIG. 1 to participate in the call. The telephony services provider may control the call because calls to or from the first user or the second user are controlled by the telephony services provider. Controlling the call may include identifying control signals for the call and providing the control signals to the telephony infrastructure provider such that the telephony infrastructure provider may operate the call as indicated by the control signals. More particularly, the telephony infrastructure provider controls a voice path that has been established between the telephones used by the first and second users as indicated by the control signals.

The telephony services provider receives an indication of an alert to be presented to the first user (810). The alert is an audio message that is based on real-time or time-triggered events and that includes information or other content to be presented to the first user. The alert may be an indication of another call to the first user that has been received, an indication of an event from a calendar maintained by the first user, or a reminder of a task to be performed by the first user. The alert also may include a news report, a sports report, a stock quote, a weather report, or other information to be presented to the first user. The alert also may be an indication that a controller of a telephone used by the first user is attempting to interrupt the call. Interrupting the call may include bridging the controller into the call, placing the call on hold to enable the controller to communicate with the first user, or establishing a three way call between the first user, the second user, and the controller. The indication of the alert may be received from any source that maintains or identifies information to be presented o the first user. In other words, the alert may be based on information accessed from a telephony services provider back-end system, such as the telephony services provider back-end system 155 of FIG. 1. For example, the telephony services provider may receive the indication of the alert from one of the information sources 540 a-540 f of FIG. 5.

The telephony services provider may determine that the first user is participating in the call (815). Such a determination may be based on information stored in the telephony services provider back-end system that indicates the activity of the first user. For example, a presence monitor, such as the presence monitor 540 f of FIG. 5, may indicate that the first user is participating in the call. In addition, the telephony services provider may determine whether the first user is able to receive the alert (820). Such a determination may be based on call handling preferences of the first user that indicate when the first user is available to receive the alert.

The telephony services provider identifies control signals configured to cause the alert to be presented to the first user such that the alert does not interfere with the call (830). In other words, the telephony services provider identifies control signals that cause the alert to be presented audibly to the first user such that the first user hears the alert, such that the second user does not hear the alert, and such that the alert does not obscure other content of the call. For example, the identified control signals may cause the alert to be read at a low volume that may only be heard by the first user. The identified control signals also may cause a tone indicative of the alert to be played at the low volume. Alternatively, the identified control signals may cause the alert to be presented to the first user outside of the call.

The telephony services provider sends the signals to a telephone used by the first user (835). More particularly, the telephony services provider sends the signals to a voice gateway router that services the telephone used by the first user, and the voice gateway router causes the alert to be presented to the first user. The telephony services provider may send the signals to the voice gateway router over a signaling path to the voice gateway router.

Referring to FIG. 9, a process 900 is used to present participant-specific audio messages to a participant of a telephone call. The process 900 may be executed by a telephony services provider that controls the call on behalf of a telephony infrastructure provider that operates the call. More particularly, the process 900 may be implemented as one of the features 510 a-510 n of FIG. 5 and may be executed by the service logic execution environment 515 of FIG. 5 when the feature is identified for application to a call. The feature may be identified for application to a call when call handling preferences of a recipient of the call indicate that the feature should be applied.

The process 900 begins when the telephony services provider receives an indication of a call involving a first user and a second user (905). The indication of the call may be received because calls to the first user or the second user are controlled by the telephony services provider. The telephony services provider may receive the indication of the call over a signaling path to a voice gateway router that services a telephone used by the caller or by the recipient. The call may be a new call between the first user and the second user, a call from the second user to the first user that is received while the user is participating in another call, or an existing call between the first user and the second user in which the first user is placing the second user on hold. When the call is an existing call, the telephony services provider may control the existing call by identifying control signals for handling the call and providing the control signals to the telephony infrastructure provider such that the telephony infrastructure provider may operate the call as indicated by the control signals.

The telephony services provider identifies an audio message that corresponds only to the second user (910). The identified audio message will be presented to at least one of the first and second users. For example, when the call is a new call, a ring tone corresponding only to the second user, such as an audio recording of a name of the second user, may be identified. When the ring tone is presented to the first user, the first user will know that the new call is from the second user. When the call is a call that is received when the first user is participating in another call, a tone or another audio message that corresponds only to the second user and that informs the first user that the second user is attempting to interrupt the existing call with the new call is identified. The tone is presented to the first user while the first user is participating in the other call such that the second user may be identified to the first user without the first user being distracted from the other call. When the second user is being placed on hold, the identified audio message may be selected specifically for the second user to entertain the second user while on hold.

In one implementation, the identified audio message is specified by the second user, in which case the audio message is provided to the first user. For example, the second user may send the first user the identified audio message, or the user may retrieve the identified audio message from an external source. Enabling the second user to specify the identified audio message allows the user to project a personality to the first user when the audio message is presented to the first user. Enabling the second user to specify the identified audio message also provides the second user with a greater level of control over personal phone usage, particularly when the identified audio message is presented to the second user.

Alternatively or additionally, the audio message may be automatically identified based on characteristics of the second user. For example, a location from which the second user is participating in the call may be identified based on, for example, a phone number from which the caller is calling. An audio message that includes information specific to the location of the second user, such as a weather report for the location or advertisements for businesses near the location, may be identified.

The telephony services provider identifies control signals configured to cause the identified audio message to be presented to at least one of the first and second users (915). More particularly, the telephony services provider identifies control signals configured to cause the identified message to be played over a voice path that has been established between voice gateway routers that service the telephones used by the first and second users. The telephony services provider sends the signals to telephones used by the first user and the second user (920). More particularly, the telephony services provider sends the signals to the voice gateway routers that service the first and second users. The voice gateway routers execute the control signals to present the identified audio message to at least one of the first and second users on the corresponding telephones. In other words, the voice gateway router executes the control signals to play the identified audio message over the voice path.

Control signals for handling a call are described throughout as first being identified and then being distributed for execution. However, control signals may be identified throughout the entire duration of the call, and the control signals may be distributed as they are identified. As a result, the call may be continually and asynchronously controlled through the entire call, rather than being controlled at one or more points within the call. When control signals are identified at multiple points during a call, different features or applications may be used at each of the multiple points to identify the signals.

A voice gateway router is described throughout as a single entity to which signaling and voice paths are established such that calls to telephones serviced by the voice gateway router may be controlled. In particular implementations of the described techniques, the voice gateway router may include multiple subsystems that collectively operate as the voice gateway router described herein. For example, the voice gateway router may include one or more subsystems that are analogous to a telephony services signaling processing 150 of FIG. 1 such that control signals may be identified for calls that are not handled by an external telephony services provider, such as the telephony services provider 115 of FIG. 1. However, such subsystems may not access the information included in the telephony services provider, such as the information included in the telephony services back-end system 155 of FIG. 1.

A VoIP telephony system is described throughout as a telephone system in which calls are operated by a telephony infrastructure provider and are controlled by a telephony services provider. However, other telephone systems may be used to enable a telephony services provider to control calls operated by a telephony infrastructure provider. For example, the telephony services provider may be applied to a circuit-switched implementation of the described techniques such that calls between telephones connected to a circuit switched telephone network provided by a telephony infrastructure provider may be controlled by an external telephony services provider.

The described systems, methods, and techniques may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of these elements. Apparatus embodying these techniques may include appropriate input and output devices, a computer processor, and a computer program product tangibly embodied in a machine-readable storage device for execution by a programmable processor. A process embodying these techniques may be performed by a programmable processor executing a program of instructions to perform desired functions by operating on input data and generating appropriate output. The techniques may be implemented in one or more computer programs that are executable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a data storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device. Each computer program may be implemented in a high-level procedural or object-oriented programming language, or in assembly or machine language if desired; and in any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language. Suitable processors include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory and/or a random access memory. Storage devices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, such as Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM). Any of the foregoing may be supplemented by, or incorporated in, specially-designed ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits).

It will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims. For example, advantageous results still could be achieved if steps of the disclosed techniques were performed in a different order and/or if components in the disclosed systems were combined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing messages specific to participants in telephone calls, the method comprising: receiving an indication of an established call from a first user to a second user, the indication being received by a telephony services provider over a first signaling path of the call that is established between the telephony service provider and a first telephony proxy server that is controlled by a telephony infrastructure provider and that is associated with the first user; identifying, based on the indication, a message to be presented to at least the first user; identifying, using the at least one processor, control signals configured to cause the identified message to be presented to at least the first user at any time during the established call, wherein identifying the control signals comprises: accessing, based upon information stored by the telephony services provider related to at least the first user, an indication of an activity relevant to at least one of the first user or the second user; and identifying the control signals based upon the accessed indication of the activity; and sending the identified control signals to the first telephony proxy server over the first signaling path or to a second telephony proxy server that is controlled by a telephony infrastructure provider and that is associated with the second user over a second signaling path that is established between the telephony services provider and the second telephony proxy server.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying control signals configured to cause the identified message to be presented to at least the first user comprises identifying control signals configured to cause the identified message to be played over a voice path that has been established between the first telephony proxy server and the second telephony proxy server.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying control signals configured to cause the identified message to be presented to at least the first user comprises identifying control signals configured to cause the identified message to be presented to only the first user.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying control signals configured to cause the identified message to be presented to at least the first user comprises identifying control signals configured to cause the identified message to be presented to the second user.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein: receiving an indication of the established call involving the first user and the second user comprises receiving an identification of a call in which the first user is placing the second user on hold; and identifying an audio message to be played to the second user while the second user is on hold.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein: identifying a message further comprises receiving an indication of a new call to the first user that is received while the first user is involved in the established call; and identifying an audio message that identifies the new call to the first user.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying a message comprises identifying an audio message based on characteristics of the second user.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the identified message corresponds only to the second user.
 9. A tangibly embodied, machine-accessible medium that comprises instructions that when accessed, results in a machine with at least one processor performing operations for providing messages specific to participants in telephone calls, the operations for providing messages comprising: receiving an indication of an established call from a first user to a second user, the indication being received by a telephony services provider over a first signaling path of the call that is established between the telephony service provider and a first telephony proxy server that is controlled by a telephony infrastructure provider and that is associated with the first user; identifying, based on the indication, a message to be presented to at least the first user; identifying control signals configured to cause the identified message to be presented to at least the first user at any time during the established call, wherein identifying the control signals comprises: accessing, based upon information stored by the telephony services provider related to at least the first user, an indication of an activity related to at least the first user or the second user; and identifying the control signals based upon the accessed indication of the activity; and sending the identified control signals from the telephony services provider to the first telephony proxy server over the first signaling path or to a second telephony proxy server that is controlled by a telephony infrastructure provider and that is associated with the second user over a second signaling path that is established between the telephony services provider and the second telephony proxy server.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying a message comprises identifying an audio message selected by the second user for communication to the first user.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein: receiving an indication of an established call from the first user to the second user comprises receiving an indication of a call in which the second user is placing the first user on hold; and identifying an audio message to be played to the first user while the first user is on hold.
 12. The medium of claim 9 wherein the instructions further cause the machine to perform operations including: identifying control signals configured to cause the identified message to be played over a voice path that has been established between the first telephony proxy server and the second telephony proxy server.
 13. The medium of claim 9 wherein the instructions further cause the machine to perform operations including: identifying control signals configured to cause the identified message to be presented to only the first user.
 14. The medium of claim 9 wherein the instructions further cause the machine to perform operations including: identifying control signals configured to cause the identified message to be presented to only the second user.
 15. The medium of claim 9 wherein the instructions further cause the machine to perform operations including: receiving an identification of the established call in which the first user is placing the second user on hold; and identifying an audio message to be played to the second user while the second user is on hold.
 16. The medium of claim 9 wherein the instructions further cause the machine to perform operations including: receiving an indication of a new call to the first user that is received while the first user is involved in the established call; and identifying an audio message that identifies the new call to the first user.
 17. The medium of claim 9 wherein the instructions further cause the machine to perform operations including: identifying an audio message based on characteristics of the second user.
 18. The medium of claim 9 wherein the identified message corresponds only to the second user.
 19. The method of claim 1 wherein sending the identified control signals comprises sending the identified control signals to both the first telephony proxy server that is associated with the first user and to the second telephony proxy server associated with the second user.
 20. The method of claim 1 wherein the identified message is at least one of an audio message, an e-mail, an instant message, a calendar event reminder, or an incoming call notification.
 21. The medium of claim 9 wherein sending the identified control signals comprises sending the identified control signals to both the first telephony proxy server that is associated with the first user and to the second telephony proxy server associated with the second user.
 22. The method of claim 9 wherein the identified message is at least one of an audio message, an e-mail, an instant message, a calendar event reminder, or an incoming call notification. 